Is your office chair sinking too? Pressure maintenance issues are the major culprit behind the dis-balancing of most office chairs. This makes them unable to stay up and eventually leads to sinking with passing time. You might be wondering about the role of pressure in the process. This is related to the inclusion of pneumatic cylinders in the system to adjust the height of the chair. Height adjustment is carried out via the supply of pressurized air in the cylinder. Hence, slight issues in the pressure levels can greatly impact the performance of the tool.
Apart from this, continuous usage of cylinders over long time intervals also contributes to sinking problems, and thus, replacement is required, which is expensive. Alternatively, you can also follow the below-mentioned steps to resolve the issue. Hence, this article offers some insights into how to fix sinking office chairs with 11 easy and cost-efficient steps without any expert guidance using a hose clamp or PVC pipe.
How to Fix a Sinking Office Chair?
Method 1: With the Help of Hose Clamp
The first method involves the use of a hose clamp to repair the cylinder. It has been divided into six different steps that can be performed at home without any expert guidance. In addition to this, the materials required in this regard include a hose clamp, a screwdriver, rubber or duct tape, and a wide working station.
Step 1: Sliding the Plastic Tube
The first step involves the removal of plastic tubes from the metal surface and is extremely important. Since most of the office chairs are covered with a plastic tube over the cylinder area, it is important to slide them either up or down to perform the task. These plastic tubes act as a protective layer over the metal cylinder and protect it against external damage. Therefore, you must never destroy or completely remove the tube. Instead, it is recommended to slide it over so that the metal surface is exposed.
Step 2: Adjusting the Chair to Required Height
After you have successfully carried out the first step, it is time to proceed towards the second. In this step, you are required to adjust the height of your seat in accordance with the position of your knees while you are standing. It is essential to adjust the height at this stage as you might not be able to do so afterward.
If it is difficult to keep the chair straight even when no one is sitting, you can lay it down to adjust the height. However, if the plastic tube interferes with the operation during the second step, you can remove it with the help of a screwdriver. For this purpose, loosen the screws near the wheels using the screwdrivers and take out the wheels. Afterward, remove the plastic tube and put the wheels back on. Screw them again, and you are done.
Step 3: Wrapping the Hose Clamp
This step is characterized by the inclusion of hose clamps in the system. It is advised to collect a 2 cm hose clamp before you begin working on the chair. Place the hose clamp around the cylinder by loosening its screw. Once you have properly placed it around the cylinder and have reached the particular spot, proceed towards the next step, which is increasing the clamp’s grip. Remember to keep the screw loose at this stage and do not try to tighten it to improve the grip.
Step 4: Grip Improvement is Crucial
It is important for the clamp to be extremely tight in order to hold the chair at a certain point, especially when weight is applied. Thus, to increase the grip of the clamp around the cylinder, it is advised to wrap a rubber or duct tape around it. This means that the cylinder should be covered with several layers of duct tape before tightening the clamp for better output.
Keep wrapping until no empty space is left and the metal surface is completely covered. You can also use sandpaper as an alternative to rubber. Another thing that should be kept in mind is to apply the rubber or tape on a dry cylinder, as a greasy surface will lead to slipperiness. Thus, making it difficult to hold the rubber over the cylinder.
Step 5: Tighten the Clamp
After properly covering the empty metal surface with a rubber or sandpaper, you can tighten the clamp screw. This can be done either with the help of a screwdriver or manually with bare hands. Before you proceed with this step, it is recommended to monitor the height of the unit carefully, as you will not be able to make adjustments afterward. Once checked, tighten the screw as much as you can and test the chair.
Step 6: Testing the Chair
Last but not least, it is time to test the holding capacity of the clamp and the performance of the item. Exert weight over the chair and check whether the clamp will unfasten or not. If yes, readjust it and add another layer of rubber to amplify the grip. Similarly, if you feel that the chair has not been adjusted at the desired height, you re-adjust it by loosening the clamp and again performing the above-mentioned steps.
Method 2: With the Help of PVC Pipe
Step 1: Measuring the Cylinder
The second method involves the use of a PVC pipe as opposed to the hose clamp. For this purpose, follow the previously mentioned steps to pull down the plastic tube to expose the metal cylinder. Afterward, use a measuring tape of a ruler to measure the diameter of the cylinder. This can be carried out by placing the measuring tape in a horizontal position to the cylinder. Similarly, the vertical position can be used to measure the length of the cylinder.
Step 2: Collect a PVC Pipe from Nearby Store
Now it is time to purchase the PVC piper of the diameter that can be efficiently placed over the metallic cylinder. Be careful to buy the pipe with a similar diameter to the cylinder; however, it should be slightly larger in length. This means that the pipe should be straight and should extend from the base to the top of the cylinder, i.e., manually adjusted height of the chair. Alternatively, you can also use various smaller pipes together for this purpose if you are unable to find one single unit.
Step 3: Saw Through the Pipe
The focus of the third step is to cut the pipe from tip to tip. This can be carried out with the help of a hacksaw. Remember to cut the pipe on only one side, thereby producing a slit in the final product; instead of dividing it into two different pieces. As an alternative to slitting, you can also insert the pipe by removing the wheels.
In order to do so, use a screwdriver to take out the wheels. Place the pipe over the cylinder and reinsert the wheels back to their original position. Remember to wear a mask while cutting the PVC pipe to prevent the inhalation of harmful particles.
Step 4: Snapping the Pipe on the Cylinder
Again pull the plastic pipe to reach the cylinder and place the pipe over the cylinder by snapping it with your bare hands. This will create a protective layer around the cylinder and prevent the chair from sinking or sliding down when pressed from above. Similarly, the pipe can also be divided into smaller pieces to ease the process of snapping it over the chair cylinder.
Step 5: Inserting of Additional Pipes
If your chair still can not maintain balance after the insertion of a single PVC pipe, you can always add more pipes to keep the chair at your desired height. Repeat the above-mentioned steps to include more pipes in the unit. However, you should carefully monitor the height as it cannot be readjusted without the removal of pipes, which is a complicated and time-consuming process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop my office chair from sinking?
There are a variety of ways to prevent your chair from sinking. Firstly, you can replace the old pneumatic cylinder with a new one. However, it is an expensive solution. Hence, you can use various alternative cost-effective methods to resolve the problem. They include using a hose clamp coupled with a rubber or sandpaper and the use of PVC pipe to prevent the chair from sinking.
Why is my office chair sinking?
The office chair is supported by a pneumatic cylinder that offers pressurized air to the system and keeps it in a straight position. Loss of required pressure or issues with the cylinder is often the culprit behind the sinking of most office chairs. Hence, you should regularly monitor the pressure of your unit to prevent such situations from occurring.
Are all chair cylinders the same size?
The chair cylinder ranges in size from 4 inches to 10 inches, depending on the type of tool you are using. However, the most commonly used types of cylinders include four, five, and six inches. Among which five are standard for most chairs and is highly used in the market.
Wrapping Up
There might be various reasons for the sinking of your chair, leading from cylinder issues to loss of balance and deteriorating quality of the materials used in construction. However, the problem can be resolved with a few easy steps if you are not willing to replace the apparatus. The chair can be adjusted in a required place with the help of either a PVC pipe or hose clamp. However, you should be careful while doing so and prevent damage to the plastic tube located over the cylinder.
